480-991-6877

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480-991-6877

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Arizona,
85016

480-991-6877

Migraine Surgery Phoenix

When people with a history of migraines have a throbbing, pulsating pain in their heads they know they’re having a migraine. Family, work, and life all get put on hold for hours to days to deal with the intense pain, stress, aggravation, and debilitation of a migraine. Sometimes there is nothing a person wants to do except stay alone in a dark room.

For those that don’t see improved symptoms with medications or therapy, surgery may be the answer to help reduce or eliminate migraine symptoms.

Staggering Migraines Statistics

Some migraine studies estimate that 13 percent of adults in the U.S. population have migraines and 2-3 million suffer from chronic migraines.

Approximately 5 million in the U.S. experience at least one migraine attack per month, while more than 11 million people blame migraines for causing moderate to severe disability.

It is estimated that globally migraines are the cause of 1.3 % of all disability due to illness. In the U.S. alone, the annual cost of migraines on the economy is estimated to be between $5.6 and $17.2 billion in lost work productivity, says Headache-help.org. Depression, anxiety, poor job performance, and relationship problems are common with migraine suffers.

American emergency rooms have some three million patient visits each year for treatment for headaches with the majority of those admitted being migraines. Hospital related headache stays cost around $408 million annually.

What is a Migraine?

A migraine headache is a neurological disorder that results in long lasting headaches that commonly have other distinctive symptoms like nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to stimuli (light, movement, smell, sounds, etc.). Although the word “migraine” derives from the Greek “pain on one side of the head” and two thirds have attacks primarily on one side of the face, it can occur in different parts of the head depending on the patient.

One way to think of a migraine is a collection of debilitating neurological symptoms resulting from a severe form of a headache. Migraines are often misdiagnosed because the symptoms can resemble other disorders which can take time to rule out. Migraines are also confusing to doctors and patients because they frequently vary in location, severity, and duration. Migraines can be genetic or not, chronic or not, have all they typical symptoms or not, be alleviated with prescriptions or not, and so on.

Although migraines vary most people experience one or more distinctive periods or stages when distinctive symptoms occur.

Prodromal or Premonitory Stage

This period describes certain physical and mental changes such as tiredness, craving sweet foods, mood changes, feeling thirsty and a stiff neck. These feelings can last from an hour to day. Although the symptoms can be nondescript, alert doctors and seasoned patients have been known to accurately predicting an upcoming migraine with this stage.

Aura Stage

If a patient has these symptoms, it distinguishes their diagnosis from the two most common types of migraines which are migraines with aura and migraines without aura. An aura is the neurological term used to describe the visual disturbances people see during their migraine. This can be blind spots, color changes, tunnel vision, vertigo, and other upsetting visual disturbances. The aura stage can last from minutes to an hour. For some people this is where the attack begins.

Attack Phase

This period is when the headache like symptoms are the most severe. It normally begins above the eyes and is most intense on one side of the head but can vary.

Resolution and Recovery Stage or Postdrome Stage

When the migraine symptoms begin to subside, the body and mind are still recovering from the stressful, prolonged event.

Migraine Surgery in Arizona

Individuals whose migraines are unresponsive to standard medical or pharmacological therapy or lifestyle modifications may be interested in surgical intervention.

Arizona Facial Plastics has a surgical treatment of migraines through a procedure called nerve decompression surgery.

Like many scientific discoveries, the effectiveness of migraine surgery was discovered by accident. Patients that had undergone brow lift surgery noted during their follow-ups that their migraines had greatly subsided. This makes logical sense because the brow lift and a migraine headache share common anatomical and physiological features.

Trigeminal nerve picture courtesy Wikipedia.

Many migraines headaches are the result of neurotoxins released from irritated branches of the trigeminal nerve that is in the forehead.

Migraine surgery is performed on an outpatient basis with sedation and/or general anesthesia. It takes surgeons at Arizona Facial Plastics approximately 45 minutes to an hour to deactivate each trigger point. This could involve removing a small portion of the muscle that is pinching the cranial nerves, or correcting a deviated septum that is protruding into the other structures and compressing the nerves.

The procedure is normally similar in scope and price as a brow lift. It can get more involved when the nerve surgery must extent to far reaching sides of the face. Your surgeon will be able to discuss this after reviewing your history and conducting a brief physical exam.

Botox and Migraines

Although Botox has become a household name for eliminating wrinkles, it is also effective for stopping migraines in many patients. If Botox for Migraines works for a patient it is more likely that migraine surgery will be effective.

How do I find Out More about Migraine Surgery in Arizona?

You can call our office at 480-991-6877 to make an appointment with one of our surgeons at Arizona Facial Plastics for a complimentary consultation about migraine surgery. We’ll need to review relevant medical and prescription history concerning your migraines. Keeping a headache diary that records your migraines frequency, intensity, location, and other notes can help you and our medical team to determine if this surgery might be for you. For more information on Arizona migraine surgical treatments, headache surgery Arizona, Gilbert Migraine Surgery, Scottsdale Migraine Surgery, Mesa Migraine Surgery, Chandler Migraine Surgery, and Phoenix Migraine Surgery please call 480-991-6877.